SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh high court on Wednesday directed the state government to file status report and furnish detail of all the waqf properties situated in the entire state. The government has been directed to show who are the possessors of these properties and also indicate if any mosque or graveyard has been encroached and by whom.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Sandeep Sharma passed these orders on a petition taken up suo moto by the court as a public interest litigation on the basis of a letter written to the chief justice by member of Himachal Pradesh Waqf Board, Mushtaq Qureshi.

During hearing of the petition, the court made the secretary (revenue), the waqf board through its chairman, and all the deputy commissioners of the entire state as parties respondent in the PIL. The matter will be listed before the court on August 4 for further hearing.